A sweet, delicious and sticky sauce that’s popular across the world. With this quick and easy dish, you’ll have a crowd pleaser that’s surprisingly easy to make. It is the ideal weekday dinner when you don’t have a lot of time on your hands. Many make the mistake of using store-bought teriyaki sauce. Home made teriyaki sauce has a depth of flavour that your store-bought bottle just can’t give you.
Teriyaki sauce in the western world is traditionally served with chicken or salmon, but the Japanese find many more uses for it. Here, I served it with chicken breast, but if you can get boneless chicken thighs, go for it. It’s a much juicer piece of chicken.
Teriyaki sauce is made up of only 4 key ingredients. Soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar. For added flavour, just add ginger and garlic. For measurements you only need to remember: 2 parts soy sauce, 2 parts sake, 2 parts mirin and 1 part sugar. The amount you use will depend on the amount you want or need. I usually like to make plenty of sauce so people have to option to add some to their rice.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
- 1/2 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup sake
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- Roasted white sesame seeds
- Chicken breast or boneless chicken thighs
- Served with:
- Broccoli
- Rice
Instructions:
If using chicken breast, start with flattening your chicken breast so it cooks evenly. Doing this will result in a juicier chicken breast.
Start boiling the rice according to instructions and boil some water to put the broccoli in later.
For the sauce, heat up some oil in a sauce pan. Add your minced garlic and ginger, sauté for only a short time, until you can really start smelling the aroma. Add the mirin, soy sauce, sake and sugar to the sauce pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes. If you’re in a hurry you can add some starch to the sauce to thicken it more quickly. It will thicken by itself if you’re patient enough.
Season your chicken with some pepper and salt. Fry your chicken in some oil until it’s nearly done. Start frying at a high heat and then bring the heat down considerably. This is to avoid that the chicken dries out. When the chicken is almost done, add your sauce to the pan. Cook the chicken for the final few minutes in the sauce.
Boil your broccoli florets for just a few minutes in salted water and put the cooked rice in a bowl. Slice up the chicken and place on top of the rice. Add the broccoli, pour a little more sauce over chicken and sprinkle generously with toasted sesame seeds.
Note: Don’t hesitate to try salmon teriyaki, or if you’re a vegetarian, try teriyaki tofu. It’s just as comforting and delicious.
June's Kitchen Stories 